1. Field of Invention
This invention is in the general field of games of chance and, more particularly is an improvement in the game of Pai Gow Poker.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The game of Pai Gow Poker, sometimes called Asian Poker, is a relatively new type of poker game that has gained acceptance by casinos at almost all major gambling centers. The game is played with a single standard deck of 52 playing cards plus a Joker. The Joker can only be used to represent an Ace or to represent one card of either a straight or a flush. Rankings, including straights and flushes, are explained hereinafter.
The game is started by dealing seven cards to each of six player positions and a banker's position. A player forms two hands from his holding of seven dealt cards. One hand, called a Low Hand, consists of two of the dealt cards. The other hand, called a High Hand consists of the remaining five dealt cards. In a similar manner, the banker forms a High Hand and a Low Hand from his seven card holding. The only requirement in forming the hands is that the Low Hand must be of a lower rank than the High Hand.
When the player forms his Low Hand and his High Hand so that they are respectively higher in rank than a Low Hand and a High Hand of the banker, the player is a winner and the banker is a loser. Conversely, when the player forms his Low Hand and his High Hand so that they are respectively lower in rank than a Low Hand and a High Hand of the banker, the player is a loser and the banker is a winner. When one of the player's hands is of the same rank as a corresponding one of the banker's hands, the banker's hand is deemed to be of higher rank than the player's hand.
When the player's Low Hand is of a higher rank than the banker's Low Hand and the player's High Hand is of lower rank than the banker's High Hand what is known as a push exists. Similarly, the push exists when the player's Low Hand is of a lower rank than the banker's Low Hand and the player's High Hand is of higher rank than the banker's High Hand. When the push exists, there is no winner.
A determination of a winner correspondingly determines the outcome of a wager between the player and the banker. Hence, wagers are neither won nor lost when the push exists.
It should be understood that in a casino where the game is played, a dealer employed by the casino usually takes a five percent commission from wagers that are won. Since no wagers are won when the push exists, the push is an undesirable non-revenue producing use of the casino's resources.
The rankings of hands in Pai Gow Poker is similar to the rankings of hands in the more common forms of stud poker. Accordingly, since the Low Hand consists of two cards, its highest rank is a pair of Aces. It should be understood that the Joker may be used to represent an Ace in the Low and High Hands. Rankings of the High Hand are as follows:
FIVE ACES, highest ranking hand (formed by four Aces and the Joker); PA1 ROYAL FLUSH, (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 of the same suit); PA1 STRAIGHT FLUSH, ( A straight in any suit, i.e., Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7 of the same suit); PA1 FOUR OF A KIND, (Four Aces is highest); PA1 FULL HOUSE, (THREE OF A KIND plus a PAIR, i.e., Ten, Ten, Ten, King, King); PA1 FLUSH (Five cards of the same suit); PA1 STRAIGHT (Five cards in sequence but of different suits, i.e., Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7); PA1 THREE OF A KIND (Three cards of the same rank, i.e., three Aces) PA1 TWO PAIRS (i.e., two Kings and two 10's) PA1 ONE PAIR (Two cards of the same rank. Two aces is the highest pair and two 2's is the lowest pair) PA1 NO PAIR (Ace, King is the highest Low Hand of this kind)
It should be understood that the Joker may be used to represent one of the cards of a royal flush, a straight flush, a flush and a straight.
Since the existence of the push is a non-revenue producing use of the casino's resources, it is desirable to eliminate the push, thereby causing either the banker or the player to be a winner.